Ladislav Nemet

The native form of this personal name is Német László. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
His Eminence

Ladislav Nemet

S.V.D.
Cardinal, Metropolitan Archbishop of Belgrade
Német in 2009
ChurchRoman Catholic
ArchdioceseBelgrade
Appointed5 November 2022
PredecessorStanislav Hočevar
Other post(s)Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria Stella Maris (2024–)
Previous post(s)Bishop of Zrenjanin (2008–22)
Orders
Ordination1 May 1983
by Matiša Zvekanović
Consecration5 July 2008
by Péter Erdő
Created cardinal7 December 2024
by Pope Francis
RankCardinal-Priest
Personal details
Born (1956-09-07) September 7, 1956 (age 68)
Odžaci, FPR Yugoslavia
NationalitySerbian
Coat of armsLadislav Nemet's coat of arms

Ladislav Nemet SVD (Serbian Cyrillic: Ладислав Немет, Hungarian: Német László; born 7 September 1956) is a Serbian-born ethnic-Hungarian[1] prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has worked in Serbia as Archbishop of Belgrade since November 2022 and before that as the Bishop of Zrenjanin from 2008 to 2022. He is a member of the Society of the Divine Word (Verbites). He was made a cardinal on 7 December 2024 by Pope Francis.

Before becoming a bishop he was educated and filled positions in several countries, studying in Poland and Rome, working as a missionary and pastor in the Philippines, teaching and collaborating on the Vatican's diplomatic efforts in Austria, doing pastoral work and teaching in Croatia, and then taking on several assignments in Hungary. He has been the President of the International Episcopal Conference of Saints Cyril and Methodius since 2016.

Biography

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Ladislav Nemet was born on 7 September 1956 in Odžaci, then in the People's Republic of Serbia, Yugoslavia,[2] into a family that belonged to the region's Hungarian community, and he refers to himself as a Hungarian.[3][a] His role models were a local priest and an uncle who was secretly a Verbite in Hungary under the Communists, who recommended the order as a path to broader experience, telling Nemet that "a diocese is too small for you".[4]

He attended the secondary school Gymnasium Paulinum in Subotica from 1971 to 1976. He joined the Society of the Divine Word, completed his studies in philosophy and theology in Pieniezno, Poland, and there took his perpetual vows on 8 September 1982.[2] He received his master's degree from the Catholic University of Lublin on 7 April 1983. He was ordained a priest in Odžaci on 17 April 1983.[2][5] He spent his first two years as a priest doing pastoral work in Croatia.[6]

He studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome from 1985 to 1987.[5] While there he worked in a parish in Fiumicino and was thrilled to experience a parish of young people with an average age of 35 and with many active community groups of a sort unknown in Yugoslavia.[4] He worked as a missionary in the Philippines and a chaplain at the University of San Carlos in Cebu City from 1987 to 1990,[5][7] He later said he learned how the shortage of priests meant that "the laity do much more for the church than the official structures", something "incomprehensible" to Europeans who are "bishop and priest focused".[4]

He returned to Rome and obtained a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the Gregorian in 1994. He then moved to Austria, where he held the following positions: professor of theology in Mödling, prefect of St. Gabriel's parish there, and assistant in a nearby parish; collaborator of the Mission of the Holy See in Vienna at the Office of the United Nations and specialized agencies from 2000 to 2004, serving at the same time as professor of theology in Zagreb.[2][5]

He was provincial of the Hungarian Province of the Verbites from February 2004 to May 2007.[6] In July 2006 he became Secretary General of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops' Conference and taught missiology at the Sapientia College of Theology for Religious Orders in Budapest. In addition to Hungarian and Serbian, he speaks English, German, Polish, Italian and Croatian.[2]

On 23 April 2008, Pope Benedict XVI named him bishop of Zrenjanin in Serbia.[2] He received his episcopal consecration on 5 July 2008 from Cardinal Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Budapest, with Archbishop Juliusz Janusz, Apostolic Nuncio to Hungary, and Bishop László Huzsvár, his predecessor in Zrenjanin, as co-consecrators.[8] Though this meant returning to the region of his birth in Serbia, he said he felt no attachment to it after 33 years away and could happily work anywhere.[4] As bishop he organized a diocesan synod between 2017 and 2021, well before Pope Francis–Nemet later pointed out–undertook his program for synods throughout the Church.[3][4]

He is president of the International Episcopal Conference of Saints Cyril and Methodius, which comprises Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia, elected in 2016[9] and re-elected in 2021.[10]

Throughout the winter of 2019/20 he sought medical attention for help with "burnout and depression". He said the experience left him less focused on perfectionism and more frank in conversation, to the astonishment of his priests.[4]

On 5 November 2022, Pope Francis appointed him Archbishop of Belgrade.[10] He was installed there on 10 December.[11]

He was elected one of the two vice-presidents of the Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe (CCEE) on 25 September 2021.[12]

On 6 October 2024, Pope Francis announced that he planned to make Nemet a cardinal on 8 December,[13] a date that was later changed to 7 December.[14] He is the first person from Serbia to be named to the College of Cardinals.[15] He said he thought Pope Francis chose him for his commitment to the synodal process, noting that he had held a diocesan synod in Zrenjanin "before Covid...even before the Pope started the synodal renewal of the universal church".[3] He also recognized that there would be political reactions to his appointment in the Serbian and Croatian press, both favorable and critical.[3]

On 7 December 2024, Pope Francis made him a cardinal, assigning him as a member of the order of cardinal priests the title of Santa Maria Stella Maris in Lido di Ostia (Rome).[16]

Asked in 2021 what he prayed for, Nemet said: "Peace and tranquility, so that I can accept my boundaries and the people I work with. I don’t ask for anything else, I have everything else."[4]

Notes

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  1. ^ A Hungarian interviewer referred to him as "a Hungarian cardinal, who is one of the pastors serving in another country, Serbia" and in replying Nemet said "I serve in Belgrade as a Hungarian".[3] A Hungarian publication claimed him with the headline "College of Cardinals Expands With Hungarian Cardinal".[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Dalma, Jánosi (9 December 2024). "College of Cardinals Expands With Hungarian Cardinal". Magyar Nemzet. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Rinunce e Nomine, 23.05.2008" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 23 April 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e Nemet, Ladislav (28 October 2024). "László Német: My nomination as cardinal may be related to my commitment to the synodal renewal of the Church". Megújul (Interview). Interviewed by István Gégény. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Német László püspök: Nagyon fontos beszélni arról, ami történik velünk". Nőileg (Interview). Interviewed by Gagyi Katinka. 18 December 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d "Mons. Dr. Ladislav Nemet, Beogradski Nadbiskup i Metropolit". Archdiocese of Belgrade (in Croatian). Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Német László a Nagybecskereki Egyházmegye püspöke". Hungarian Catholic Bishops Conference (in Hungarian). 23 April 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  7. ^ "Serbia's first cardinal was 'very much loved' chaplain at Cebu university". Rappler. October 10, 2024. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  8. ^ "Püspökké szentelték Német Lászlót". eredetimiep.hu (in Hungarian). 6 July 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  9. ^ "Përfundon Asambleja e 38-të e Konferencës Ipeshkvnore të Shenjtorëve Cirili e Metodi" [The 38th Assembly of the Episcopal Conference of Cyril and Methodius ends]. Vatican News (in Albanian). 2 June 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Resignations and Appointments, 05.11.2022" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 5 November 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  11. ^ "László Német, the new archbishop of the Belgrade Archdiocese, was installed". Roman Catholic Diocese of Nagybecskerek (in Hungarian). 11 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  12. ^ "Vice President H. Em. Card. Ladislav Nemet, S.V.D." CCEE. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  13. ^ "Annuncio di Concistoro l'8 dicembre per la creazione di nuovi Cardinali, 06.10.2024" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 6 October 2024. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  14. ^ Brockhaus, Hannah (12 October 2024). "Vatican Shares Pope Francis' Schedule for December Consistory to Create Cardinals". National Catholic Register. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  15. ^ "Belgrade Archbishop Nemet to be appointed first Cardinal from Serbia". N1. 7 October 2024. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  16. ^ "Concistoro Ordinario Pubblico: Assegnazione dei Titoli e delle Diaconie ai nuovi Cardinali, 07.12.2024" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 7 December 2024. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
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